


Left Behind

by celeste9



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Abandonment, Accidents, Crash Landing, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Shippy Gen, Some Plot, Trust Issues, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-09-28 07:59:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10080395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: After a crash landing, Finn and Rey are forced to rely on Poe to help get them through but trust isn't an easy thing to come by.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For the February H/C bingo challenge, I had to use the prompts trust issues, accidents, CPR, and a wild card (I used abandonment issues). Many, many thanks to kiss_me_cassie for the idea, which I think deserved a better fic than this! Also many thanks to rain_sleet_snow for a very last minute and speedy beta, after which I proceeded to rewrite half the fic so all mistakes are very definitely mine!

“Rey!” Finn shouted, one hand gripping the back of a seat while he tried to keep himself steady in the precariously tilting ship. “Rey!”

Damn it, he had told her not to go, he had told her Poe could handle this, he had told her - The ship was half-flooded, crashed in this stupid kriffing swamp on this stupid kriffing planet, and Rey could barely swim.

“I’m going after her,” Finn said, looking back for a second to Poe, who was half-buried in wiring.

Poe sucked a finger into his mouth as something sparked. “Yeah, yeah, go!” he said, distracted. “Make sure she’s okay.”

Finn was already on his way, down the corridor where Rey had gone. The _Falcon_ was dipping, water seeping in through where the exterior had been compromised, and Finn could see where the grating in the floor had been opened. “Rey!”

The ship lurched violently, as though it had been hit with something, or as though the swamp was claiming it further. Finn lost his footing and went sliding across the wet floor, scrabbling for purchase, jamming his leg painfully into a corner.

“Frag!” Finn’s eyes watered and he thought maybe something had cracked. Definitely twisted, at the least.

But that wasn’t important. Through the open grate, Finn could see that the lower level of the _Falcon_ was almost completely submerged on this end and that was… That was where Rey was.

“Rey! Rey!” Finn shouted again, pulling himself across the floor until he could lean down over the side.

Rey was floating in the dirty water and not moving.

It felt like Finn’s stomach was lurching as violently as the ship just had been. He braced himself over the edge and reached for Rey, stretching until he could just snag the back of her shirt. Getting a better grip, he hauled her up, muscles straining, grateful for Rey’s slim frame.

He dragged her to the most stable part of the corridor he could, noticing that her hair was wet with blood as well as water.

And she wasn’t breathing.

“Rey, oh, fuck, Rey,” Finn said, checking for her pulse and thankfully feeling it. He tilted her chin back and pinched her nose closed before pressing his lips to hers and breathing, trying to blow air into her lungs. He looked at her chest and saw it rise but she still wasn’t breathing on her own so he blew in again, then again, and then she spluttered and gasped, coughing up a mouthful of filthy swamp water.

“Force, Rey, thank the Force, kriff,” Finn said, rubbing her back while she leaned over and continued to cough.

It took her a few more moments and then she was lightly squeezing his wrist, her grip so much fainter than normal, her eyelashes fluttering. “Finn,” she said, like a hoarse croak. “Finn.”

“It’s okay,” Finn said. “You’re okay. Stay with me.” This sense of desperation was washing over him like a wave, like he would drown in it.

“Guess I could use another lesson after all. Swimming.”

Finn’s laugh was more out of surprise than anything else.

“Is everyone all right?” Poe came hurrying into view, splashing through the puddles. “Rey?”

He was bleeding, blood matting his dark hair and dripping down his cheek. He must have hit his head and Finn honestly couldn’t remember if it had happened before or after he’d gone after Rey. He thought that must make him a fairly terrible friend.

“Are _you_ okay?” he asked.

“What?” Poe touched his temple like he was reminding himself he had even been hurt. “It’s nothing, looks worse than it is. What happened?” He crouched down beside them.

“Rey was in there,” Finn said, pointing, and Poe’s eyes widened.

“Underwater?”

“I’m _fine,_ ” Rey insisted, though Finn noticed she didn’t try to move away from him. “Was trying to-- it doesn’t matter. I hit my head, I guess, blacked out for a second, and the water level kept rising, and I…”

“Need another swimming lesson,” Finn finished, and Rey rolled her eyes.

“Stars,” Poe said. “You two, you’re… You’re gonna be my death, one way or another. Finn?” He nodded pointedly to Finn’s ankle, which was maybe not sitting at exactly the correct angle.

“Jammed it,” Finn admitted. “Hurts.”

“Finn,” Rey said, eyebrows drawing together in disapproval. “You didn’t even tell me.”

“Yeah, well, I was a bit preoccupied, wasn’t I? Making sure you didn’t drown?”

Rey opened her mouth but Poe interrupted. “We’ll get some bacta on it when we get out of here. The comms are busted and honestly, I don’t think we should stay in the ship. Landing was fucking terrible; the whole ship could go under at any moment.”

Terrible. That was an understatement. Though, Finn supposed, at least they _had_ landed. The ship could’ve gone up in a fiery explosion. They were still all relatively in one piece, respectively. It could always be worse. He was lucky to have been with Poe and Rey, the two best damn pilots he’d ever seen. Otherwise…

“Chewie’s gonna kill us, you know that, right?” Finn said.

“He won’t kill us,” Rey said.

“Well, sure, not you. Me and Poe, though…”

“You should get out of the ship,” Poe said again. “Find somewhere safe.”

Finn narrowed his eyes. “And what will you be doing?”

“Finding help. It’s no good; I can’t fix this on my own and you two need medical attention. Don’t argue,” Poe said sharply when both Finn and Rey made to do just that. “I’ll go, and I’ll bring someone back with me.”

 _I’ll go._ Finn felt this clenching in his chest but he knew Poe was right. Rey might seem okay now but she could have died; she needed a real doctor. She hadn’t been breathing. She needed someone to look at that nasty wound on her head. Rey needed them. Rey needed them to fix this.

And it had to be Poe. Finn would never make it, not with his injured ankle, and certainly not quickly enough for Rey. Finn had to stay here. He had to stay here with Rey. She needed him.

“Let’s get out of the ship,” Finn said, by lieu of agreeing to anything just yet.

“Give me a second,” Poe said, and he left them, probably going for the medical kit. The floor wobbled again as the ship sank a bit more.

Rey leaned against Finn’s shoulder, breath hissing out of her mouth.

“All right?” Finn asked, worried, but she didn’t answer. She’d hit her head, she’d admitted to that much, but Finn wondered what else was wrong.

Poe came back with a bag over his shoulder. He helped Rey get to her feet, while Finn bit his lip to hold back his grin at the sound of Rey’s exasperated grumbling and Poe’s steadfast refusal to acknowledge said grumbling. Then he winced as he put pressure on his bad ankle, nearly collapsing under his own body weight, and Poe had to help him, too.

“It’s okay,” Poe said, one arm around Finn’s waist. “Lean on me. You, too,” he said to Rey.

“I don’t need help,” she insisted, but she went around to help Finn, getting on his other side, and honestly, Finn wasn’t certain who was guiding whom more.

He declined to mention that, though, particularly because Rey kept gritting her teeth like she wanted to cry out.

The three of them hobbled their way down the boarding ramp, which was half-submerged in the swampy water.It was several feet of muck to get to the water’s edge and Poe jumped in, helping first Finn swim to land and then returning for Rey. They were all plastered practically head to toe in filth.

“This looks okay,” Poe said, leading them to a little clearing in the undergrowth. They could still just make out the _Falcon_ through the vegetation. “I’m gonna head north, from the air it looked like there was a settlement that way. Swamp clears out. You’ve got your weapons?”

“Yeah, of course,” Finn said.

“Good. Take care of each other.” Poe shoved his bag at Finn. “Use the bacta.”

Rey was watching Poe, this strange look on her face that Finn couldn’t decipher. She didn’t say anything, just slid down into the dirt with her back against a tree.

“You should let me look at that,” Finn said, reaching towards the cut on Poe’s face.

Poe shrugged him off. “Head wounds always bleed. Look after Rey. Put the damn bacta patch on your ankle.”

Finn hated this. He sat down next to Rey, feeling useless, his ankle throbbing. He started rifling through the bag to satisfy Poe. “Come back soon,” he said, the words tasting like dirt in his mouth.

Poe nodded, resolute. He knelt down beside them, his face set in determination. Poe liked plans and action. All he needed was a way to move forward and he was set. Finn wished he had Poe’s optimistic spirit.

Poe held Rey’s hand, kissing her knuckles, and then he leaned in to brush the lightest of kisses to the corner of Finn’s mouth. Finn could feel his cheeks heating up.

“It will be okay,” Poe said. “Everything will be fine. I promise.”

The way he said it made Finn almost believe him.

Absently touching the blaster in the holster strapped to his thigh, Poe said, “Be safe. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Then he was gone.

“Be safe,” Finn muttered to himself. Yeah, he had a broken Jedi, a bad leg, a busted ship, and a blaster in the middle of nowhere with no idea what sort of trouble their presence might attract. They would be fine. Definitely.

“Finn,” Rey said, her voice soft. Her eyes were slightly unfocused and Finn thought she was probably concussed. “Finn, you’re so afraid. I can feel it.”

Closing his eyes briefly, Finn wished for a moment that Rey was a bit less good at the Jedi thing. “Yeah, I’m afraid. I’m afraid for you and I can’t even do anything about it.”

“I’m okay, Finn.”

“You don’t know that. You almost _died._ ”

“But I didn’t.” She paused. “You haven’t used the bacta patch yet.”

“Damn it,” Finn muttered, finding it and taking off his shoe so he could slap the patch on his ankle. “Happy now? Will you let me have a look at you?”

“Said I’m fine.”

“Rey.”

Rey blew out a breath through her mouth and then lifted her shirt, revealing the beginnings of what would clearly be some nasty bruising over her ribs.

“Rey!” Finn said, aghast. “You look like you’ve got fucking broken ribs!” He had probably made it worse with all his manhandling of her. He rummaged through the bag again until he found another bacta patch.

Whether from resignation or realization that she needed it, Rey didn’t protest when Finn applied it gently. “Do you think we’ll be okay? Like Poe said?”

“I… I hope so. Poe is trying.”

“He left us,” Rey said, her eyes squeezed tightly closed.

“He’ll come back.”

“Will he?”

Finn remembered Rey hugging him on Starkiller Base; he remembered the look on her face. “Not…” Finn swallowed. “Not everyone leaves and doesn’t return, Rey. Poe will come back. He promised.”

“Making a promise doesn’t mean you have to keep it.”

“Poe does. Poe keeps his promises.”

Rey didn’t say anything. Finn felt sick.

What if she was right? What if something happened, what if something happened to Poe, and he couldn’t come back?

Or what if he just didn’t?

One of the first things a stormtrooper learned was what was considered an acceptable loss and what was considered an acceptable risk. Rey was deadweight. So was Finn, with his bad leg. Poe could get out of this situation easier on his own. Finn and Rey were now more trouble than they were worth; their usefulness didn’t outweigh the difficulty they were causing.

Expendable.

Captain Phasma would leave them both behind. If Finn were in Poe’s place, if this were his squad, Phasma would expect him to leave them behind.

A stormtrooper would never come back for Finn and Rey. Not like this.

Poe wasn’t a stormtrooper, Finn reminded himself. He remembered Jessika Pava telling him that Poe had defied General Organa’s orders at Starkiller Base, that he hadn’t left until he had been sure the _Falcon_ was safe. He had barely known Finn then, and he hadn’t known Rey at all.

But a stormtrooper wouldn’t come back. That was all Finn knew.

A stormtrooper wouldn’t come back. Poe was a soldier, too. Poe understood what was important. He understood what was necessary. He had accepted that no one would come to his rescue on the _Finalizer._

Maybe Poe wouldn’t come back.

Finn jerked at a noise but it was only Rey, snapping a branch in her hands. He tried to relax again.

“You should sleep,” he said. “I’ll stay awake, keep watch.” Kriff knew what sort of animal life there was on this planet.

“I can’t,” Rey said. “Can’t sleep.”

Finn couldn’t really blame her. Maybe it was better if she stayed alert anyway. He could monitor her better that way.

They stayed quiet for a while and Finn didn’t know how much time was passing. How long would it take Poe to find someone?

He shifted over so that his shoulder pressed more firmly against Rey’s, staying mindful of her injuries. “Rey, I don’t know what to do if-- I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t okay.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said quietly. “It’s not… It’s not bad, really, and I’m, I’m trying,” she said. “I… I hate this. I hate not doing anything _._ ”

Rey wasn’t good at relying on others, at relying on anyone but herself. At needing help.

Finn wished he could do more for her than this.

“Just stay with me,” he said. “That’s enough. Okay? Being here with me.”

“Finn, if… if Poe, if he doesn’t come back…”

“No,” Finn said sharply, not wanting to hear her finish. “Poe will come back. He will.”

Rey exhaled, her breath shuddering. She looked worse, her skin pale and her breathing growing shallower. Finn was afraid that something was truly wrong, something he couldn’t fix with a bacta patch. He raised his fingers to her neck just to feel the beat of her pulse and Rey didn’t even protest.

And what if Poe _didn’t_ come back? How long should Finn wait? He could… Well, he wasn’t as handy as Poe but he could try to fix the comms in the _Falcon_. Maybe Rey could talk him through it. Or maybe he should try to find help, head off in the opposite direction of Poe. He could hobble around. It would be slow but he could do it. Maybe he would find something.

But how could he leave Rey like that, all on her own? What if it was worse than broken ribs, what if she had damaged something? Inside? What if she slipped into unconsciousness? What if someone – or something – found her? Found the ship? He didn’t even know if she could use the Force like this, if she could summon the mental strength with her head wound. Rey was the strongest person Finn knew but she was…

Finn thought of Poe saying, _Everything will be fine. I promise._

He had sounded so certain.

Finn knew he had to trust that Poe would return because Finn was never going to leave Rey, not ever.

“I won’t leave you,” he said, gripping her hand, and Rey turned her head, her gaze flickering over his face.

“Finn--”

Then Finn heard a sound through the trees, something familiar.

A speeder.

He looked to the source of it, his thoughts tumbling around in his head, because it could be anyone, maybe it wasn’t Poe, maybe it was trouble, it was danger, and how would he protect Rey, he could hardly stand –

As Rey’s fingers twitched over the hilt of her lightsaber, Finn fumbled for his blaster, but amid the sound of indistinct voices coming closer he could make one out clearly.

Poe.

“Rey,” Finn said, almost wanting to cry from relief. “Poe came back. He came back for us.”

Rey’s hand tightened in his. “He came back for us?”

“Yeah. Yeah, he did.”

And there he was, striding towards them, two sentients and a droid following after. A Cathar, Finn thought, though he had never seen one in person before, and a human. They’d brought supplies with them and Poe was speaking in that clear, firm, authoritative voice that never failed to get things done, his Commander Dameron voice, the tone that made everyone want to do their best for him. He was dirty and sweaty, like he had run all the way until he found someone and then pushed himself all the way back, his clothes gray-hued from his dip in the swamp, bloody gash on his temple still ignored and his sleeve torn.

He looked like the best thing Finn had ever seen.

“You came back,” Finn heard himself say, colored with disbelief and amazement.

Poe looked at him, his lips parting, this painful mix of sadness and fondness and regret and maybe… maybe love washing over his face. He knelt down in the moist dirt next to Finn. “I would never leave you.” Poe grasped Rey’s hand, their eyes meeting and holding. “Not ever.”

Rey was looking at him like she’d looked at Finn on Starkiller Base, like she couldn’t quite believe he was here, like a world was opening up to her, like she was realizing that sometimes, sometimes people cared enough to put you first.

As Finn watched them he realized that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to kiss Rey or Poe more. He hoped he would have time to explore that thought later. He hoped he would have the opportunity to do something about it.

And then they all got pulled apart while the people Poe had brought set to work. Finn hardly paid attention to what the droid was doing to him, too concerned with watching the others as they checked over Rey. She kept grumbling about being fine but she clearly wasn’t and the Cathar seemed happy enough to ignore her protests.

“They’re going to bring us back to their village, make sure you’re both okay,” Poe explained, this little crease between his eyebrows like he was anxious. “Then I can contact base, and we’ll see about fixing the ship. They said they can help us move it. I just thought… Rey, and you, you were…”

“I know, Poe,” Finn said.

“It is safe to move them, Poe,” the Cathar said in faintly accented Basic, an older female. “We are ready.”

Poe nodded and he and Finn watched as they gently moved Rey. She had given up protesting at the fuss but her face was pinched in annoyance. “Come on,” Poe said, helping Finn to his feet and keeping him steady.

“Poe,” Finn said as they stood there, Poe’s arm hooked around his waist, and then Poe was holding him tightly, squeezing him in a hug, and Finn just sank into it. Poe came back.

No one ever would have, before.

But Poe came back.

“She’s waiting for us, buddy,” Poe said, and they followed after Rey together.

**_End_ **


End file.
